Loving what was and what is
by SterAna813
Summary: What if slender man wasn't there to abduct and terrify, but just there, not knowing why or how. And what if he died before he became this thing. What if he left something behind...or someone?
1. Chapter 1: loosing you

**Chapter 1: Loosing you**

"You Bastard!" The girl screamed into the night. Her beloved lie on the floor, crimson running down his chest. A knife held firmly in her right hand as she preceded the man who had shot her one and only. The alley way was dark and lonely. The chill of the air was so painful, one might think their skin would crack. No noise, no sight, except the lonely light that was given off by one street lamp. The light was between the man and the girl. Her breath trembled out of her mouth as if, it too, was cold. Her brow furrowed in anger as the man's demeaning smile did not fade.

"Why? Just tell me why? How could you! He did nothing to you!" She screamed out as if the blood would rush back into his body. The man stood still. Not a sound. Not a movement. But then, he spoke out.

"Because…"

"Because!"

"…He was there."

Her eyes widened with both fury and fear. She couldn't comprehend how someone could be so cruel, yet, so calm. This frightened her. The man stood, still smiling. Yet, that was all she could see…a smile. A cruel, yet, patient smile.

She couldn't stand there anymore. With one quick stride and movement of the shoulder, her blade had cut through him with ease. Now, her back facing his, she looked down at her knife, and was dumbfounded. The blood, or had it been blood, was not a crimson red, but a black. A dark black which sent a cold chill through her spine. She quickly stood up and turned to face the man, only to find him doubled over. She thought she had succeeded. The gash went through his side, enough to cause a person to bleed to death. But that was just it. Cause a person. Was this a person? The man's chuckles were so soothing and smooth, yet, so sinister.

"You think you can just kill me, girl? You think that a toy like that would wound me?" The man said as he stood up. The black substance that spilled from his side was now healing his wound. The girl's sight went from the man's thought-to-be wound the boy who lay on the floor behind him. His chest heaving up in down vigorously, trying to breath in as much life as he could. Her brow furrowed again. Pain and anger rolled out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

"Bastard!" She screamed running at him. He avoided her with ease. Bored with this scenario, he ran past her and behind the building. She chased him to the corner of the building only to see where he had hid, the forest which resided behind the town. No one dare go in there. Too many tales of death and children disappearing. Anyway, the fog was much too thick to see anything 2 feet in front of you. Instead, she turned around and ran back to the boy. Kneeling down, she could feel his cold breath on her face.

"Don't leave me. Please, I can fix it." She pleaded as she ripped part of her jacket and pressed it against the gash on his chest. To her surprise, there was a mix of the black substance along with his crimson blood. Frightened, she held her hand firmly against the sticky substance. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she pleaded against this.

"Please, don't cry. You know better than all people I will always be yours." He said as he placed his hand on hers and held them tightly.

"Sterling, please."

She loosened her grip on his chest and allowed him to take them into his own. "I love you, and you know I always will."

She nodded and closed her eyes to keep from spilling out screams of anger and pain. Bending over, she gave him a passionate kiss on the lips. He returned it with the bitter taste of blood on his tongue.

"I will be back." She said pulling her face from his slowly. "I will come back with help, and we will fix you. OK? Please. I love you." She said forcing tears back as she gave him one last kiss. He let her hands go and watched her run down the dark alley until all he could see was darkness. He could only hear her footsteps fading away, slowly, as he was also fading. Very, very slowly.

"Please help!" She screamed as she pushed the doors open to a sheriff's department. She ran to the first desk and pleaded to the man sitting at his computer. Her frantic cried confused him as he stood up to sit her down.

"Whoa…whoa, calm down there little miss. Take a deep breath."

"I'm sorry, it's just that-"

He raised a hand to her in protest, stopping her in mid-sentence.

"Now, tell me. What is your name?"

"It's Ana, but I have to-"

"Age?"

"18, but please, I have to-"

"Ma'am, I have to have all the details before I go listening to your story." He said, kneeling down so his face was even with hers. "Now, tell me your story."

"Please, me and my boyfriend were walking home from dinner and this man jumps out and stabs him with a knife, then he ran off into the forest. Please, we have to go now! He is dying. Please!"

"Not so fast, you must first fill out a form that states you are telling the truth and your story is accurate." He said handing her a yellow paper on a clip board and a pencil. She dropped it and ran out of the building.

"Hey! Wait! Stop!" He yelled as he chased her down the street and towards the alley way. He almost had her in his grasp when she suddenly stopped. He fell in surprise to this and quickly stood back up.

"Now, you listen here little miss, you can't just go runnin' off like that after tellin' such a story. You have to-" He stopped in dead sentence, noticing what she had stopped for. Where Sterling had lay was now vacant, all but a streak of blood, red mixed with black, staining there and around the building as if he had been dragged…into the forest.


	2. Chapter 2:Dreaming

**Chapter 2: dreaming**

I lay in my bed, thinking, wondering why he had disappeared. Where could he have gone? Who could have taken him. I couldn't comprehend why this happened. Was there a reason? No. there wasn't. It was just a cruel and unforgiving man. Man? He bled black. How could he be a man? I rolled over and stared at his side of the bed. His smell still lingered on the pillow. I took it and inhaled as much as I could. I wanted him here. Holding me, telling me it was going to be alright.

It was dark, as if someone had thrown death around me. Too cold to tell if I was alive. Too silent to tell if there was any happiness. The woods were too dense to tell if anything was there. Anything could be, to my understanding. Nothing felt alive. Nothing felt as if joy would ever be. But I had to find him. I had to know he was ok. My footsteps killed broken leaves as I wondered through the dead forest. But mine weren't the only ones. There were others. Footsteps that made it seem that death followed. Turning around, nothing was there, but it still seemed as if something one. Someone? I could smell it. The black substance that came from with in him. The black blood. It's dead stench filled my nostrils to the brim and caused my eyes to water. Then, I saw it. A tree. It moved. Towards….me. It wasn't human, and yet, it was. I could see it's blank canvas of a face. The dark shadows where the eyes should be. The deep aura that surrounded it's mysterious body. And, I could hear it's heart beat. It's dead, lonely heart beat. One that would beat so still…and so alone.

It walked toward me with such grace, as if it wasn't touching the ground. It was as if nothing phased it's emotion, but sadness spilled from it's being. I could hear him breathing, yet, he had no mouth. No eyes to show emotion. Nothing. A single hand reached up and stroked my face. It was so cold. My fear had lessened. I felt safe. Not even knowing what was to happen, or how to react, I allowed him to. The soft touch turned to a hard, cold hand wrapping around my neck. The aura had changed. From what was once a soft and gentle touch, was now a hateful, raged grasp. I screamed, but nothing escaped my cold lips. The creature began to scream. It's mouth forcing itself open. Looking as if it were stitched shut. It let out a scream as it's grip hardened. I could feel my life slipping away. Feeling cold. Feeling lonely, as it did, when he died.

"It's me." It spoke in such a hush tone. One in which I could have recognized, but also felt so far from. It was a smooth voice, I could hear inside my head. I opened my eyes. The pain was gone. To my surprise, it was no longer the menacing creature, but him. Sterling, whom I missed so much. He was half there. I could see through him. Transparent. His hands on my neck, and yet, I did not feel pain, nor fear, but comfort. Though he seemed dead, his touch felt so warm. So alive.

"Sterling…" I spoke softly while choking back tears of sorrow and happiness. My hand reached out to him. My fingers inches away from his beautiful face, which almost seemed to glow from the rays of moonlight gleaming through the trees.

My hand grabbed nothing, only air. I had awoken. Still in my bed, my eyes opened to find that my hand was hovering above me, trying to grasp something which wasn't there. Something I longed for. Sitting up, I though of the place I was in. It looked so familiar. So…close. As I got up from my bed, a fabric fell from beneath me. I looked down to find it was one of his shirts. Sterling's sweet scent still lingered on it, smelling so new, as if he had just worn it. I had to find him. I wouldn't give up. That dream. He must still be alive. He was calling to me from somewhere. Reaching out to me. And I knew where I had to start.


End file.
